Boparan Holdings, the parent company of 2 Sisters Food Group, has continued its drive to rapidly expand its footprint with the announcement that it has acquired the remaining Vion meat businesses in the UK. Katy Askew takes a look at how ambitious 2 Sisters hopes to succeed in a market where Vion struggled.

Nearly two months into the horsemeat scandal that has rocked the food industry, UK figures highlighting a sales slowdown in ready meals raise the question of whether this is a temporary blip or a long-term structural decline.

Tesco's CEO has announced a raft of changes to its supply chain in the shadow of the horsemeat scandal, including a promise to source all fresh chicken from within the UK and the appointment of an 'agriculture director'.

The suggestion this weekend from German development minister Dirk Niebel that food products containing horsemeat should be distributed to the poor reminds us that, while indicative of a glaring lack of scrutiny on the part of food companies, the horsemeat scandal has represented no danger to human health to date.

The European food industry has been shaken to its core by a scandal involving the contamination of processed beef products with undeclared horsemeat. The scare has undermined consumer confidence in the reliability of the food chain and highlighted the vulnerability of a complex and highly integrated system that is primarily based on trust. Katy Askew asks what the food industry can do to avert future contamination issues.

Asda has recalled fresh sauce manufactured by private-label giant Greencore after finding horse DNA in the line - the first product outside the frozen aisle to become embroiled in the contamination scandal.

The UK's Food Standards Agency has insisted the traceability systems in place to track ingredients down the supply chain are proving robust as it works to uncover how undeclared horse meat made its way onto frozen beef products.

In an sector in which profit margins are wafer thin, with retail pressure bearing down on manufacturers and manufacturers bearing down on their suppliers, it really is not a surprise that the best deal will be sought after and snaffled up, writes Dean Best. But the old adage of "if something appears too good to be true, it probably is" has rarely felt so apt.

As our understanding of the horse meat contamination scandal develops the number of food products drawn in is likely to expand, raising some fundamental questions about the security of our food supply.

The UK's Food Standards Agency has demanded the food industry implement a "more comprehensive" meat testing programme, following news that undeclared horse meat has now been found in frozen ready meals.

The horse-meat-in-burgers scandal rumbled on this week. Tesco, The Co-op and Aldi ended some contracts with the supplier at the centre of the affair and sought to reassure consumers of their efforts to improve food quality. Meanwhile, in Westminster, UK regulator The Food Standards Agency was in the spotlight. Dean Best reports on the issues that emerged from the regulator's appearance before MPs.

Tesco plans to introduce DNA tests on all its meat products in the wake of the horse meat scandal, an affair that has led the UK retailer to drop one of the suppliers at the centre of the contamination.

Some serious questions over the reliability of the supply chain were raised last week, when Irish food safety authorities detected the presence of undeclared horse and pig meat in burgers and ready meals.

Irish food safety officials investigating how horse and pig DNA ended up in frozen beef burgers on sale in the UK and Ireland have pinpointed a European ingredients supplier as one possible source of the problem.

The discovery of horse meat in beefburgers sold by Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland and Dunnes Stores in the UK and Ireland has sent shock waves through the industry. While the retailers have been quick to pull affected products and launch investigations into how the horse meat made its way into the supply chain, it seems likely that the issue has the potential to undermine public confidence in prepared meat products.

The UK Food Standards Agency has called an emergency meeting of experts and industry over findings that some beef burgers contain traces of horse meat, as Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland initiate recalls.

Tesco has recalled some ranges of burgers in Ireland and the UK after food safety officials reported finding traces of horse meat in samples on sale in its stores, as well as in other retailers' outlets.